Tuesday, June 20, 2017

TWH Press Briefings Called "Kind of Useless"

The White House press corps vented frustration Monday with press secretary Sean Spicer for conducting off-camera briefings in place of the usual publicly broadcast briefings.

According to The Hill, Spicer conducted an off-camera briefing with reporters on Monday in which the press was told it could not film or broadcast audio of the proceedings. Spicer conducted the last on-camera briefing last Monday.

“The White House press secretary is getting to a point where he’s just kind of useless,” CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta said after the briefing. “If they’re getting to this point where he’s not going to answer questions or go on camera or have audio, why are we even having these briefings or gaggles in the first place?”

Call me old fashioned but I think the White House of the United States of America should have the backbone to answer questions on camera.

The White House has increasingly forged its own path with the press — holding off-camera briefings and gaggles, imposing restrictions on reporters’ use of audio and video feeds, inviting Cabinet officials to speak only about specific policy issues and rotating between Spicer and deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Some of those moves have angered the White House press corps but delighted Trump’s supporters, who view the media as what White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon has dubbed the "opposition party."

Time reporter Zeke Miller asked Spicer Monday to explain “why our friends in radio and television can’t use this live.”

Spicer responded that the president had made comments at a photo opportunity with the Panamanian president and later would make public comments at a technology council meeting.